› added 2 months ago

5

TIL that Venezuela's name means "Little Venice" because of the houses built on stilts above water that reminded the Europeans of the Italian city. It was coined by Amerigo Vespucci, the namesake of America.

Read more pbs.org

via reddit.com

6BjZ TIL of a sea slug that eats algae until it incorporates the algae into its tissues, eventually ceasing to eat and getting all of its energy from the sun directly.
aw0Go TIL when Apollo 11 landed, it had only about 25 seconds of fuel left.
bVoZ TIL Cocoa beans were used as currency in Mayan and Aztec societies and 10 beans could buy a prostitute and 100 beans for a slave.
W7jX9 TIL that Talcum Powder (baby powder) is a Probable human carcinogen, the same classification as lead
ANLXa TIL of sky burial, a funeral practice in which a corpse is placed on a mountaintop and left to decompose or be eaten by vultures.